"Big tea farms suffer major blow after NLC ruling on land, leases"

It will not be business as usual in tea major plantations in Kenya following a landmark decision by the National Land Commission (NLC) that will cause major policy shifts. In a decision published in the Kenya Gazette on Thursday, three county governments have been handed a major win in their push to re-survey the land on which the tea estates owned by multinational companies sit to establish the actual acreage. The companies operating in the region, and which are affected by the NLC verdict, include Ekattera (formerly Unilever), James Finlays, George Williamson, Mau Tea, Sotik Tea Highlands and Sasini. The NLC has directed that extra land found after the re-survey should revert to the county governments to hold it in trust on behalf of the local communities...

The NLC verdict follows a petition by the affected county governments on behalf of native communities that include the Talai and Kipsigis clans. In a major win, the commission has also directed that the renewal of leases to the lands hosting the plantations be withheld until an agreement is reached with the Kericho and Bomet county governments...In the Nandi case, the NLC further directed that the tea companies create a scholarship fund to educate children from the Talai community. For the last seven years, the three counties have been pushing for the lease terms, which they said have for decades been shrouded in mystery and should be made public, the land rates and rent be revised upwards.